Bluebird House
Plans for a simple and effective Eastern Bluebird nestbox.
The Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) is one of the most beautiful birds commonly seen in Georgia. Bluebirds build their nests and raise their young in holes, usually carved into dead trees. However, the bluebird is not a woodpecker. It cannot carve out its own hole. Therefore, bluebirds depend on finding holes excavated by other species such as woodpeckers.
Because of modern timber management policies which eliminate standing dead trees, bluebirds are sometimes unable to find acceptable holes. To a bird wanting to build a nest, a dead tree may be a beautiful sight.
Bluebirds also face stiff competition from other bird species which also nest in cavities. Starlings and sparrows are often more aggressive at acquiring and defending holes than are bluebirds. Thus, the bluebird is faced with fewer nesting sites and greater competition for those that do exist.
A partial solution to this problem is the bluebird house. All of the measurements of this box are designed to favor the bluebird. The entrance of 1 1/2 inches prevents starlings from entering the box. Sparrows may get in, but they generally prefer a larger floor space. Also, sparrows like a site placed higher than the three to five feet above the ground which bluebirds prefer.
The house should be placed in a rural area, away from buildings. The site should not be heavily wooded, although a few trees are desirable. Bluebirds eat insects most of the time so ground cover must be open enough for them to hunt. A good location might be a fence post on the edge of a field near some trees. If possible, place the box where it is protected from intense sunlight (facing North).
In an ideal situation a male bluebird will discover the box. He attracts a mate which builds a nest (3 to 4 inches deep) sometime in March or April. The female lays three to five eggs which hatch after two weeks. After about three weeks, the young birds leave the box and try out their wings. The female bluebird may raise three broods of young in a single year.
Bluebirds prefer to build a new nest for each brood. Therefore, the top of the box may be opened to remove the old nest. This should only be done if there have been no birds around the box for approximately two weeks.
Female bluebirds are territorial and will savagely fight other bluebirds which venture too closely to their nest. Thus, for multiple boxes, place them at least 100 yards apart.